THE COOL KIDS

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Hermès has launched a limited-edition line of saris for sale to its customers in India. 

The 27 designs, which will sell for $6,100 to $8,200, will be based on the luxury label’s famed scarves. 

Patrick Thomas, chief executive of Hermès International, told the Financial Times that the saris were a ‘wink’ to Indian consumers. 

He said: ‘There have been a lot of connections between Hermès and India.

‘Designing these saris for Indian customers is a way to pay light homage to India, and say, “Hermès admires India and has a lot to learn from India.”’

Hermès’ Bertrand Michaud, regional managing director, for India, Middle East and Southeast Asia, said that the garments would be sold with a metre of extra twill silk so that, in accordance with tradition, a top can be tailored in the same fabric. 

‘It is the first time printing has been done over fabric measuring 5.5 meters [18 feet] long by our ateliers of Lyon,’ he told WWD.

‘The sari is a very sensual object, particularly in twill silk or mousseline changeante, when it reflects the light. It is very feminine and elegant.’

The company’s decision to specifically target the Indian luxury market demonstrates how important the country’s rich have become to high-end brands.

Though Hermès is the first luxury label to create a collection of saris for sale in India, many retail experts have expressed their surprise that it hasn’t happened earlier.

‘You have to create products that consumers like. Why would you not do saris in India? Companies should have done it much earlier’

Domestic sales of luxury accessories in the country have been estimated at $2.2billion, a figure that is growing by a staggering 20 per cent each year.

Luxury expert Neelesh Hundekari, of consultancy AT Kearney told the FT: ‘You have to create products that Indian consumers like. Why would you not do saris in India? Companies should have done it much earlier.’

He added: ‘Many of the brands think that India is a market that will evolve to western norms but it will not. It will evolve in its own way.’

Indeed, Hermès is taking the Indian market very seriously, having opened a brand new Mumbai flagship earlier this year.

‘We want to communicate and be in touch with Indian society, not in a ghetto where you have all the luxury brands together,’ Mr Thomas explained.

And though the saris will only be available for a limited time, he has not ruled out a more permanent offering.

‘It depends on how people receive them,’ he said.